UK watchdog suspects auditors restrict competition [Reuters]
Britain’s Office of Fair Trading said problems in the audit market meet the conditions for a referral to the country’s main Competition Commission watchdog. The watchdog said it had “reached the provisional view that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that there are features of the market that restrict, distort or prevent competition in the UK.
New York Investigates Banks’ Role in Fiscal Crisis [NYT]
The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses.
Judge Jails IMF Chief in Sexual-Assault Case [WSJ]
International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was ordered held without bail Monday after Manhattan prosecutors charged him with seven counts stemming from allegations he sexually assaulted a hotel housekeeper—a decision that sends one of the towering figures of international finance and French politics to a jail cell on New York’s Rikers Island.
LinkedIn Boosts IPO Price to Raise $405.7 Million [Bloomberg]
LinkedIn Corp., the networking website for professionals, increased the price range for its initial public offering, lifting the company’s potential valuation to as much as $4.25 billion. The company is selling shares at $42 to $45 each, according to a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shares had been offered for $32 to $35 apiece. At the new top end of the range, LinkedIn would raise $405.7 million, about 29 percent more than previously sought.
A Brief Exchange with an IASB Member on Hedge Accounting [Accounting Onion]
You might read this “brief exchange” and conclude that “accounting joust” may be more appropriate.
Bienvenue! French Audit Firm Mazars Arrives In U.S. [Forbes]
Francine takes a look at WeiserMazars as a potential player in the U.S. and is probably taking advantage of “French” as a hot SEO term.
Honda CFO: Earnings Likely To Take Hit From Quake, Strong Yen [Dow Jones]
Honda Motor Co.’s […] earnings are likely to suffer in the fiscal year that started in April due to the negative impact of the March 11 earthquake on the company’s production capacity and persistent yen strength against the dollar, the company’s chief financial officer said Tuesday.
Sen. Kyl: Close Tax Loopholes But Don’t Collect More Money [WSJ]
Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, went to the Senate floor today to make clear that he is for closing tax loopholes, but he doesn’t want any net increase in tax collections. “I would be very much in favor of taking a look at these tax expenditures, various subsidies, for example, to different groups to see whether we could reduce some of those subsidies and thereby reduce tax rates in a revenue-neutral manner,” he said Monday.